


Aquawoman: Forged in Darkness

by AnneComicsWrites



Category: Aquaman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Future State, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Aquaman - Freeform, Aquawoman - Freeform, Comics, DC comics - Freeform, Future State - Freeform, Gen, Mera - Freeform, The Trench, justice league - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneComicsWrites/pseuds/AnneComicsWrites
Summary: Deep in the heart of the darkest place on earth, surrounded by fierce foes, a hero of tomorrow forges her future. Her name is Andy Curry, she is the Aquawoman, and she will be one the world's most powerful heroes of tomorrow...assuming, of course, that she survives today!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Aquawoman: Forged in Darkness

There's a place, deep in the heart of the sea, that sunlight has not touched in billions of years. Cold, unforgiving, it is a vast expanse of emptiness and darkness. Death haunts these benthic wastes, riding on the backs of ancient predators that have evolved to survive in the most inhospitable environment anywhere on the planet. It's a place where the dead speak loudest, and their silence is deafening. 

But not today. 

Today, a noise like thunder echoes in the trench.

𝑪𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑮!

Summoned forth, unnatural things shift in the inky dark as the sound comes again and again and again. It calls to them, but they are hesitant to answer, for they do not know if it is a call to feed…or a warning to heed. Creatures of tooth and claw seem to shiver, as a long forgotten sensation spreads across their bodies…fear. 

The feeling is unpleasant, and somewhere, a creature screams its protest. These waters are ancient. These waters are their home. This sound is new, and whatever, whoever, is making it will not make them feel fear. Not in their home. So it cries out to others, and some respond in kind. The message is clear. There is an interloper in their depths; they will not make it out alive. 

The creatures, remnants of the once lost Trench hive, school together as the sound of thunder grows and grows. Clang! 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆! 𝘾𝙇𝘼𝙉𝙂!!

They amass by the hundreds, all following their bravest warriors to a place they never go, for it is a place of great pain and suffering. In the deepest reach of their kingdom, there is a graveyard. It was here that, many years ago, the Trench's greatest enemy murdered a Queen, and nearly ended their people for good. He did so by cracking open the sea, and from it, came forth hell. 

They see it in the distance, and they feel it's heat growing and growing until it blisters their skin. The fires from below still rage and swell from a wound that will never heal, bleeding their unwelcome light into the ocean's depths. It is here that the thunder grows loudest. It is here, in the heart of the trench, that a new future is forged. 

Rage in their hearts, the Trench don't hesitate. Claws lash out, jaws widen, ready to cut, to maim. They charge in to strike! Yet, their claws and teeth don't meet their foe. They are stopped short by something they can not see. The water around them swirls and thickens like ice, forming a shield like glass between them and this mysterious trespasser. They screech and fight in protest, unsure of what hinders their attack, unaware that it is their enemy herself that holds them back. 

Unable to do anything more, they surround this figure, this woman, who stands before the fire. Circling like hungry sharks, they eye their foe with caution and rancor. She may be unreachable now, but every instinct tells them that they won't be that way forever. For this foe is not one of the Trench. She came from the above. Sooner or later, she'll have to come out. 

Amongst them, the Trench mutter crude words in their devolved tongue. Calling their foe a "Fool" for coming here, they say that they will wait for her to run, but the woman before them will not run. She knows that even someone like her stood a cold chance in hell of outrunning them all. Not like she would have run even if she wanted to. After-all, she takes after her mother and her father: bold, proud, strong and fierce. A warrior through and through. And even then, she is far, far more than that. 

Her shield would hold the Trench back long enough, and that's what mattered. She would hold them back just long enough to give herself a fighting chance. 

And it is done. 

A forging hammer falls from her hands, settling into the silt below. With a wave of her hands, she causes the ocean's current shifts, and a stream of water flows gently across red-hot Atlantean steel, steaming as it cools. As the red-heat fades, the metal begins to take on a gentle, golden hue, and she knows she has succeeded. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥, 𝘋𝘢𝘥, she thinks. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘞𝘐𝘓𝘓 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥.

The Trench around her hiss and screech, but she doesn't budge. Fear will not show on her face today, for today has been a day she's been waiting for a long time now. Reaching out, the waters bring her newly-forged bracers to her hands. Away from the fire, the golden weapons seem to glow in the dark of the trench. They shimmer like the distant sun, somewhere far above the surface. In her grasp, she feels a residual warmth like that same sun on her skin. She smiles; how could she not? 

Today was the day, and she did it all on her own. 

Turning, she faces the swarm above her with a wild smile. The creatures above no longer seemed as fierce now that she holds these bracers in her hands. Yet, she still wonders if there is another way. Long ago, her father united the Trench with the other Seven Kingdoms, they were not all animals and not entirely unreasonable. She considers speaking to them, asking them to let her leave in peace. But, in her heart, she knows that these Trench are different. They are the ones who stayed behind, because they couldn't leave. Almost everything that was once human in them is gone. Nothing is left here but beast, beyond her help and beyond her words. 

But, she wouldn't have been her father's daughter if she didn't at least try. 

"My name is Andy Curry," she commands, her words thundering with an innate regality that coursed through her blood. "I am the daughter of King Arthur of Atlantis and Queen Mera of Xebel! I've travelled the stars and seen the depths of the universe. I was trained by the Aquaman, and the entirety of the sea heeds my will!" 

She raises her fist, showing off the trident-like points of her newly forged gauntlets. 

"Today, I forged my destiny. The trident that destroyed your kingdom is no more, and I would prefer that it spills no more Trench blood this day! But, that is up to you! Let me leave this place, peacefully, and no one will be hurt. I mean you no harm!" 

Her instincts have, unfortunately, proven true. Her words are nothing. They fall on ears that can no longer understand. If anything, they only stoke further primal rage within the savage beasts. With horrific ferocity, the Trench respond only by attacking her hardwater shield harder, fiercer, threatening to break through at any moment. Andy takes a deep breath. Unfortunate? Yes. However, she would not have come here if she wasn't prepared.

Once, the Trench horde above her would have been enough to send even the mighty army of Atlantis running for their lives. But Andy couldn't have felt that if she tried. Fear just wasn't in her blood. And after so much, after a crazier and more exciting life than most could ever dream, Andy Curry knew one thing for certain: she was far more than any army. 

She is the Aquawoman. She is the daughter of Arthur Curry, a hero and a king, and Mera of Xebel, a warrior and a queen! She commands the sea! She united the stars! 

The Trench will not end her journey here! 

"Alright," she exhales. "Let's do this then." 

Her knees bend, and, in the blink of an eye, with a mighty thrust, Andy sends herself hurling up through her watershield and into the thrashing masses of the trench. Like a torpedo, Andy thrusts her way forth with ease through the swarm, spinning like a propeller as she went, slashing out with her new blades. The edges cut with ease, as she knew they would, sending the Trench whimpering away. None can get close enough to even touch her. 

There is a BOOM! underwater as Andy breaks through their cluster, and she races toward the surface. She has gained a lead, but she knows it won't last long. The higher she climbs through the vast trench, the more and more creatures that start to emerge from the dark. Other Trench that hadn't come before, sensing the fresh, warm meat in their midst, were unable to resist. Like ants, they seem to swarm out of the walls of the trench, spilling into the water around her in frightful abundance. 

𝘍𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴, she thinks to herself, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵!

Andy knew she couldn't fight her way through all of them, so she needs a distraction. She needs the Trench focused elsewhere. Things would be much easier if she could just telepathically coax them away, but even though the Trench had fallen far from humanity, she, like her father, wouldn't have been able to so much as budge them without external help. 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘋𝘢𝘥.

Yet, Andy Curry knows a thing or two about making do, and whenever her dad's powers failed her…her mom's would have to do instead. 

"I can't control you," Andy said, gesturing at to two separate groups of Trench that were flanking her from above, "but I can control the water around you!" 

On cue, two Trench from each group screech and squirm as if they've been grasped by an invisible tendril! Then, like a puppeteer, Andy tugs on the water around their bodies, manipulating and forcing their limbs to move and act as she wishes. With a swift swipe of her hands, she sends both of her puppet Trench charging against their closest allies, forcing them to slash the unsuspecting Trench with their claws. Blood in the water, the Trench start to frenzy just as she expected. They don't care that it's their own that they're tearing apart; the Trench are not above devouring one another to survive. With both schools preoccupied with tearing each other apart, Andy sees her opportunity to make a break for it. 

Then, unexpectedly, a cold hand wraps itself around her shoulder. Claws slip under her pauldron and into her flesh. Screaming, she turns and slashes the Trench's arm from its shoulder. As it falls away, Andy realizes with a fright that while she'd been distracted with the others, she'd lost her momentum, and now the swarm from below has caught up. They are nearly upon her! It was only a moment later that another Trench emerges from the dark before her like a frightful apparition and tackles her. Arms up, it was all Andy can do to hold the unnaturally strong beast back, and keep from sinking it's long, needle-like fangs into her throat. 

Gasping, struggling, she feels another one grab her foot, and yet another on her arms. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯, 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘺! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬! 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘒!

Shouting in defiance, Andy wills the water around her to shoot outwards from her body in the form of over a dozen spikes. The hard-water constructs project outwards like the needles of a porcupine fish, impaling the screeching Trench that have surrounded her, sending them recoiling into the dark. It's a moment, a respite, that Andy refuses to be complacent in again. She takes her chance; she rockets up towards the mouth of the trench. 

Nursing her injured shoulder, Andy looks up and smiles. She can see the water getting lighter, and she can just barely see the edge of the trench! It is so close now! 

Then, there is a rumble in the water, and Andy feels it. She looks back down, only to see a giant pair of illuminous eyes, level with her own, staring back at her from the trench's cliffside. Before she can react, a giant hand bursts from the dark, slamming her sideways into the opposing wall of the trench with the force of a semi-truck. Before she knows it, she's pinned! She groans and strains against the enormous weight of the beast upon her, and Andy realizes that there was only one thing she hadn't anticipated: a new Trench queen. 

The real Queen of the Trench has long since left this place, along with the rest of her kingdom that were so willing, so Andy had never assumed that there would still be one here. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴! She thinks, scolding herself. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯!

She curses herself for being foolish enough to assume that, just because the Trench were savages, they would not make for themselves a new queen. 

And she is a fitting Queen indeed. Scarred and deformed, with molting, pale scales and broken, gnarled teeth, she is a creature that, like the rest of the remaining Trench, has devolved and mutated into something even more primal and savage. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦! Andy thinks. 

This queen is a nightmare brought to life!

Worse, Andy realizes that the queen has no intention of finishing her herself. The two of them sit there, eye to eye, as the sounds of her hungry children grow closer and closer from below! Andy tries to lash out, to strike, but her arms and her gauntlets are pinned firmly at her sides, and as skilled as she is in her mother's watershaping abilities, she doubts anything she could possibly throw the queen's way would so much as budge a creature that large or pierce skin that thick. 

Moments. She knows she has but mere moments until she would become nothing more than a skeleton, picked clean and left to sink to the bottom of the sea. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, she tells herself. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴!

Then, an idea comes to her. She can feel it…so very, very close…a way out of this mess. She smiles, and there's a gentle pulsing in the water. The Trench queen senses it, senses that something has changed, but she doesn't know what. 

Because she underestimated Aquawoman; Andy truly is the best of her parents rolled into one, and she knows just how gifted that makes her. 

Her mom's power wasn't what she needs right now. Right now, what she needs is a bit of help from her dad. And that's all it takes. One thought, broadcast out to the sea. One word. 

𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱. 

There is a low, harmonic battle cry, and the queen turns quickly to her side only to get broadsided by an entire pod of sperm whales. Impacting one after another after another like freight trains, their combined masses are enough to throw the queen aside, and force her to release her hold on Andy Curry. 

Giving them a smile, and a telepathic 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, Andy urges the whales quickly on their way before the Queen can recover and cause them any harm. 

Righting herself in the water, reaching a hand out to the trench's wall, the queen looks up with vile, hateful eyes. She is about to lunge back up, to go for Andy again! Yet, she hesitates, because, below, the Trench have started to cry out. 

The whales weren't the only help Andy has hailed. 

Even for the Trench, there were laws of nature that have to be observed, and even the Trench have predators. Below, swarms of colossal squid and bluntnose sharks had fallen upon the school. As the predators attack the Trench, so did the Trench resort to attacking each other, culminating in one massive, bloody frenzy. It is a mass brawl of confusion and blood, and Andy knows that the queen would have no other choice. She would not ignore her instincts, and she would go to her children. 

Shooting one last, fiery glare at Andy, the queen relinquishes her hold on the wall and allows herself to sink back down into the deep. Andy waits, just long enough for her to fall out of sight, and then, after giving a quick command to her allies to retreat, Andy propels herself higher and higher! Flying out of the trench, rocketing through the water, she doesn't stop. She can't stop. She won't stop! She just keeps rising higher and higher, faster and faster, and as the sunlight hits her face once again, she starts to laugh. Her joy and triumph builds and builds until she breaks through the surface. 

As the rising sun glitters off her pure, golden armor, Andy raises a fist in victory and cries out to the world in a joyous scream. 

Today is hers, and so is tomorrow. She is Andy Curry, the Aquawoman, and there's no stopping her now.

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write a scene inspired by a few lines from Future State Justice League where Andy Curry states that her gauntlets were forged in the heart of the Trench, and I liked that idea a lot, and so I ran with it. I liked the idea that the place she forged them was the same place that her father cracked open when he first faced the Trench in Aquaman (2011) #4, so I made the the site of the forging as that's the only place in the Trench where I could imagine there being fires hot enough to actually smelt and mold a new set of Atlantean weapons! I also liked the idea that her gauntlets are made from her father's trident after some unknown event left it shattered and broken, which I always just kind of assumed is what they were to begin with. I made a few references to her uniting the stars which I think we'll see in the FS: Aquaman story, because we know she spent a bit of time literally galaxy hopping from ocean to ocean and that's something I'm very excited to have them explore. Basically I just wanted this story of this badass woman taking the best parts of both of her badass parents and just--truly setting out on her own. I like to imagine that Arthur initially intended to journey to the trench with her to forge the braces, but she left early without telling him because that's the type of person I imagine she is. When your parents are two of Earth's greatest heroes, and you spend a good deal of your youth travelling the galaxy without them, I imagine there's a great sense of independence and a desire to do things on your own. Not because she needs to, necessarily, but because she wants to. She's a lot like her father in that way, I think. 
> 
> Hope you all like my interpretation on this VERY new character, and I hope I actually kinda nailed who she turns out to be in the future.


End file.
